Desirability analysis of Commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) alternative foaming agents for foamed concrete production
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Abstract
Foamed concrete (FC) offers potential for various lightweight construction applications, making the need for industry-standard foaming agents crucial in achieving its desired properties. However, the limited availability of quality foaming agents hampers FC’s widespread use in many economies. To address this, the potential of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) products capable of foaming has been explored in this paper. Three widely available COTS alternatives – Coconut Diethanolamide (CDEA), liquid detergent, and dishwashing liquid – were examined for FC production. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) and desirability analysis were employed to differentiate the effects of these COTS alternatives on various FC properties. Moreover, adjusting additional factors like foam volume, water-to-cement ratio, and maximum aggregate size – known influencers of FC properties – during the experiments revealed distinct impacts of each COTS alternative foaming agent on FC properties. Results revealed that FCs exhibiting highest compressive strengths are those made using CDEA, then followed by liquid detergent, and dishwashing liquid. In terms of absorption, FC samples made using CDEA exhibited the lowest values, followed by liquid detergent, then dishwashing liquid. In terms of unit cost, FC samples made using CDEA is the most economical, followed dishwashing liquid, then liquid detergent. However, regardless of the type of COTS alternative foaming the impact of FC density and CO2 emission equivalence values is similar. Furthermore, desirability analysis identified that CDEA yields the most desirable FC with optimal values for factors such as foam volume of about 60.073%, water-cement ratio of about 0.50, and maximum aggregate size of 1.611mm. Liquid detergent and dishwashing liquid also yields combinations of input factors which can produce FC conforming to corresponding ASTM standards for foamed concrete but with lower desirability. In conclusion, the investigation demonstrated the potential effectiveness of locally available COTS alternative foaming agents in FC production, contributing to their practical utilization and promoting more sustainable construction materials.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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